I'd like to spank the Academy

Genesis

Last spring, I was in a community orchestra that was playing the music from Chicago. The director kept saying, “Come on, people! You all know this music! Get the rhythms right!” But I didn’t know the music; I had never seen Chicago. One day, I finally got tired of being in the dark and watched it. I was seriously disappointed. All I could think was, “If this won best picture, that must have been a terrible year for movies!”

Not too long after that, I came across Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner streaming on Netflix. It was a movie I had always wanted to see, but had somehow never gotten around to watching. I was blown away. Such an amazing movie! And yet it wasn’t the best picture winner for that year. There were some serious classics made in 1967.

These two experiences so close to the same time gave me a goal: watch all the best picture winners and nominees. I wanted to know what other gems had not been considered the best picture of the year by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. And because I have opinions, I wanted to share what I thought of their decisions. And so this blog was born.